Quote Us :: Importance of Public Narrative

“Public Narrative, the act of sharing your story to call people to action, is a very important tool in organizing that reminds people of what they care about and keeps them thinking about what role they place in the society.” Liz Njeri, Tatua Community Organizer in Ngando

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Reflect :: Leaders Emerge From Everywhere

Tatua has the gift of hosting others and offering them a glimpse of what’s going on in Kenya. Katherine Mquade Toig visited Tatua Kenya last month and kept this blog. Below are her reflections on how witnessing Tatua has given her hope about leadership.

 

Last night I met a dozen young boys, ages 8-11. They were not dissimilar from my own son and my mind quickly formed a connection to them. They came over to the car I was sitting in, knocked on my window, smiled and pulled me out of the vehicle. They enthusiastically talked to me in Swahili and I understood nothing. They huddled around me which felt foreign and fantastic at the same time.  I didn’t need language to understand their welcome and hunger for love.

 

Rose and Jacob during their coaching session.

Today, I am sitting in on a meeting with Tatua community organizers Rose Chege and Jacob Okumo and founder Natalie Finstad. The essence of Tatua’s mission is to expose the power of ground up solutions. Rose and Jacob are championing a movement to help boys, like those described above, to go to school and obtain an education. Natalie coached them and helped them to develop their plan.

 

If you could have seen Rose and Jacob you would have been taken back.  They tell me that they originally sought out Tatua because they wanted to “create change where they lived and help build their communities”. When they talked about the homeless boys they had passion in their voice a sophisticated understanding of the situation at hand.  They also felt a sense of responsibility for solving the problem.

 

 

 

I felt humbled as an outsider watching and listening. My thoughts shifted from ‘How do we help Kenyans?’ to ‘How do you support Kenyans as they help themselves?’.

 

Here is some of the language they used:

 

·      “If there is a problem in the community, we can fix it.”

·      “I mobilize things in my community.”

·      “ I have hope”

·      “How can I help shift my communities focus from receiving to giving to one another.”

 

Take away: Leaders emerge in every corner of this earth. Rose and Jacob are emerging leaders. They have a fire inside them. It’s the same fire that lives in all of us when we are filled with purpose and meaning.

 

Tatua’s Tips :: Build Relationships

“It is very helpful to have relationships with other leaders in the community that I am working. The relationship helps the leaders to go an extra mile when needed.”  James Njoroge, Organizer in Rongai

Reflect :: The Community KNOWS Us

Tony Ngala, an Tatua Organizer working in the Madika neighbourhood of Rongai to get parents to take responsibility for their children’s education, shares about the team’s launch last month and what the outcomes of the event taught him. 

Road in Kware, neighbourhood where Tony works as an organiser.

Our team held our kick-off event on the 1st of September. The event didn’t go as well as we wanted as only 17 people showed up, this is a representation of the challenge we’re facing in the community to bring people together despite the fact we aren’t going to be giving them funds – a mode typically used to mobilise people in Kware. It was also a reflection on how I as a leader had stopped really being at the centre of the leadership team and was letting them kind of get off track – I need to refocus my energy on bringing them together.

However, despite the loss we were encouraged as the Chief of the area made it a point to support our work. A few leaders in the community didn’t want to open the venue for us unless we paid but Chief Njeri came over and she told the wazee (male leaders) that we are known by the community and we are helping the community so open the venue.

What are other values of being known by the community? How have you built steady relationships with in communities and become known?